265 Tasting Notes

Just found this, unopened, in the cupboard. From the use-by date – and also by the fact that when I checked I discovered that it’s been discontinued and replaced by a similar tea – it’s been there for at least a little while. I’m guessing I bought this sometime in the past six months. I was looking for a light, fruity tea to go with this hot summery day, so uncovering it today seemed like fate. Or perhaps just serendipity. Anyway, I tried it, and it brewed okay. The flavour doesn’t seem as though it’s faded much despite the months lurking in the back of my tea cupboard.

I’m in two minds about this tea. On the one hand, the flavour leans in the direction of a fruit salad of a tea, with a bit of the sort of flavour I generally associate with overpoweringly fruity mixed teas that brew bright red. But on the other hand, this tea is pale yellow rather than bright red, and leaves behind a definite taste of strawberries on the tongue, which I really like. There are bits of dried fruit mixed into the tea leaves, so the fruit flavour seems to be (at least partly) the real deal.

Preparation

I’m feeling a trifle off-colour tonight and I was craving a minty tea. This is quite a decent mint tea. You can’t really detect much of the floral elements in the flavour, but they do serve to keep the mint from becoming too much. Nice and gentle, so it delivers what I want from it tonight.

Preparation

Had an insanely busy day yesterday and realised at 2.00 this morning when I was still working that I’d somehow not had a single cup of tea all day! So I made some of this, one of my favourite comfort teas.

I love the aroma of the leaves and of the brewed tea, and the taste is just right, a really nice balance between the peach and the flavour of the tea. This tea always has a place in my tea cupboard.

Preparation

I was in the mood for a good, unflavoured tea this evening. I don’t have a lot of this left, and I can’t really justify the cost on a regular basis, but it called to me…

There’s not really much to say about this tea that I haven’t said before. I love a good Taiwan oolong more than any other type of tea, and this is one of the very best I’ve tried. It’s not quite as silky as teas.com.au’s Gin Shan Creme oolong, but it has a really distinctive character of its own, with just enough astringency running through it, and draws your attention with every sip. It’s not just a tea that should be savoured; it demands that you savour it.

Preparation

Some teas speak to you immediately, for good or ill, while others take their time revealing themselves as you drink. This one talked to me loud and clear with the very first sip, and I knew that we were going to be friends.

This isn’t one of the more delicate jasmine teas I’ve tried but the jasmine manages not to overwhelm the tea, just the same. The jasmine is quite strong in the aftertaste, and there’s a hint of astringency lurking alongside it, too.

There’s something very warm and comforting about this tea that really goes well with being safe and dry on a cool, wet night.

Preparation

Oh, blah. Too long since I made this and I got the temperature too high. The first half of the pot is okay, but the second half is astringent to the point of bitterness. Damn. It was so nice to get my kyusu out again for this too. I’ll try this one again tomorrow and see if I can get it right next time.

I keep seeing this tea in the cupboard and thinking that I should have it again soon, and tonight I finally got around to it. This is one of my favourite teas and it’s been too long since I last had it.

This is what a fruit-flavoured tea should taste like. The pineapple taste is distinctly present, but it doesn’t overwhelm the flavour of the tea, either. It would be hard to find a more perfectly balanced tea than this one.

Preparation

I’ve never seen pineapple in a tea flavour before, unless it’s included in a tropical fruits mix. And those, to my experience, usually taste largely of passion fruit. I could imagine it would work well though, what with pineapples having a sour kind of flavour. Bit like how citrus fruits usually work well as tea flavours.

Before this tea I’d only really had pineapple in tea as part of a pina colada tea, so it was always mixed with the flavour of coconut. This one is supposed to be something like the flavour of Taiwanese pineapple dessert, so I think it’s a little sweeter and less tart than actual pineapple. Finding a fruit tea this good makes up for all my trials and tribulations with the less good fruit teas. g

This is a little lighter than other Dragonwells I’ve tried. If I have to choose a favourite green tea, this one would probably be it. It’s delicate, but requires less exacting treatment to get right than, say, some Japanese green teas. (Gyokuro, I’m looking at you.) Usually, I love the flavour of this. I’ve seen some of my Steepster friends describe Dragonwell as salty to the taste, and while I can sort of see where that reaction is coming from, it’s really not what I think of first, in relation to this dragonwell in particular. I find the flavour of this one subtle and complex, and while it’s not sweet as a Japanese green can be when you get it just exactly right, it’s not bitter, either, apart from a teensy bit of astringency lurking around the edges.

Sadly, the flavour is dulled today. I’m getting towards the end of the packet and it looks like the leaves are starting to lose some of their flavour. It’s still good – but it can be so much better. I think I feel an order from the Tea Centre coming on…

Preparation

Whoa, all these new features to play with! So many teas to add to my cupboard! And right when I don’t have loads of time to devote to all this! I know what I’ll be doing this weekend. In the meantime, have a tea review…

This tea is a really rare beast: a rooibos tea that I can drink happily. I didn’t mind the underlying taste of the rooibos, and that’s pretty much a first. It’s green rooibos, which I hadn’t had before, and perhaps that makes the difference. I liked the fruit flavour a lot. It was almost all in the aroma, but since it was present in the brewed tea and not just the dry leaves I breathed in that scent with every sip and the two blended really nicely in my mouth.

Another find to add to my growing collection of night time teas. Whee!